New MOdern Office

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INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview of an Office

An office is generally a room or other area where people work, but

may also denote a position within an organization with specific

duties attached to it (see officer, office-holder, official); the latter

is in fact an earlier usage, office as place originally referring to

the location of one's duty. When used as an adjective, the term

"office" may refer to business-related tasks. In legal writing, a

company or organization has offices in any place that it has an

official presence, even if that presence consists of, for example, a

storage silo rather than an office.

An office is an architectural and design phenomenon, whether it is

a small office such as a bench in the corner of a small business of

extremely small size (see small office/home office) through entire

floors of buildings up to and including massive buildings

dedicated entirely to one company. In modern terms an office

usually refers to the location where white-collar workers are

employed.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_(architecture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_(disambiguation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office-holder_(disambiguation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_silohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_(furniture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_office/home_officehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-collar_workerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Room_(architecture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Employmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officer_(disambiguation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office-holder_(disambiguation)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officialhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjectivehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storage_silohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bench_(furniture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_businesshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_office/home_officehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White-collar_worker


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OFFICE OF YESTERYEARS AS COMPARED TO THAT OF

TODAY

2.1 History of Office

The structure and shape of the office is impacted by both

management thought as well as construction materials and may

or may not have walls or barriers. The word stems from the Latin

officium, and its equivalents in various, mainly romance,

languages. Interestingly, this was not necessarily a place, but

rather an often mobile 'bureau' in the sense of a human staff or

even the abstract notion of a formal position, such as a

magistrature. The relatively elaborate Roman bureaucracy would

not be equaled for centuries in the West after the fall of Rome,

even partially reverting to illiteracy, while the East preserved a

more sophisticated administrative culture, both under Byzantium

and under Islam.

Offices in classical antiquity were often part of a palace complex

or a large temple. There was usually a room where scrolls were

kept and scribes did their work. Ancient texts mentioning the

work of scribes allude to the existence of such "offices". These
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officium_(Ancient_Rome)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroll_(parchment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Officium_(Ancient_Rome)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scroll_(parchment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scribe


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rooms are sometimes called "libraries" by some archaeologists

and the general press because one often associates scrolls with

literature. In fact they were true offices since the scrolls were

meant for record keeping and other management functions such

as treaties and edicts, and not for writing or keeping poetry or

other works of fiction.

2.1.1 PreIndustrial Revolution

The High Middle Ages (10001300) saw the rise of the medieval

chancery, which was usually the place where most government

letters were written and where laws were copied in the

administration of a kingdom. The rooms of the chancery often had

walls full of pigeonholes, constructed to hold rolled up pieces of

parchment for safekeeping or ready reference, a precursor to the

book shelf. The introduction of printing during the Renaissance

did not change these early government offices much.

Pre-industrial illustrations such as paintings or tapestries often

show us personalities or eponyms in their private offices, handling

record keeping books or writing on scrolls ofparchment. All kinds

of writings seemed to be mixed in these early forms of offices.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancery_(medieval_office)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchmenthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Middle_Ageshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chancery_(medieval_office)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parchment


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Before the invention of the printing press and its distribution there

was often a very thin line between a private office and a private

library since books were read or written in the same space at the

same desk or table, and general accounting and personal or

private letters were also done there.

It was during the 13th century that the English form of the word

first appeared when referring to a position involving duties (ex.

the office of the ...). Geoffrey Chaucer appears to have first used

the word in 1395 to mean a place where business is transacted in

The Canterbury Tales.

As mercantilism became the dominant economic theory of the

Renaissance, merchants tended to conduct their business in the

same buildings, which might include retail sales, warehousing and

clerical work. During the 15th century, population density in many

cities reached the point where stand-alone buildings were used by

merchants to conduct their business, and there was a developing

a distinction between church, government/military and commerce

uses for buildings.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_presshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(furniture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Taleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissancehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing_presshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libraryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deskhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Table_(furniture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Chaucerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Canterbury_Taleshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercantilismhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renaissance


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2.1.2 Industrial Revolution

The Industrial Revolution (18th and 19th century) saw the rise of

banking, railroads, insurance, retailing, oil, and the telegraph

industries. To transact business, an increasing large number of

clerks were needed to handle order-processing, accounting, and

file documents, with increasingly specialized office space required

to house these activities. Most of the desks of the era were top

heavy with paper storage bins extending above the desk-work

area, giving the appearance of a cubical and offering the workers

some degree of privacy.

The relative high price of land in the central core of cities lead to

the first multi-story buildings, which were limited to about 10

stories until the use of iron and steel allowed for higher

structures. The invention of the safety elevator in 1852 by Elisha

Otis saw the rapid escalation upward of buildings. [1] By the end of

the 19th century, larger office buildings frequently contained

large glass atriums to allow light into the complex and improve air

circulation.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw-drive_elevatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrium_(architecture)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw-drive_elevatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elisha_Otishttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atrium_(architecture)


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2.1.3 20th century

By 1906, the Sears, Roebuck and Co opened their mail order and

headquarters operation in a 3,000,000-square-foot (280,000 m2)

building in Chicago, at the time the largest building in the world.

The time and motion study, pioneered in manufacturing by F. W.

Taylor and later applied to the office environment by Frank and

Lillian Gilbreth, led to the idea that managers needed to play an

active role in directing the work of subordinates. As a result, in

1915, the Equitable Life Insurance Company in New York City

introduced the Modern Efficiency Desk with a flat top and

drawers below, designed to allow managers an easy view of the

workers. This led to a demand for a large square footages per

floor in buildings, and a return to the open spaces that were seen

in preindustrial revolution buildings.[1]

However, by the midpoint of the 20th century, it became

apparent that an efficient office required discretion in the control

of privacy, which is needed to combat tedium linked to poor

productivity, and to encourage creativity. In 1964, the Herman

Miller (office equipment) company engaged Robert Propst, a
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_studyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bunker_Gilbrethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Moller_Gilbrethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Life_Insurance_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Miller_(office_equipment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Miller_(office_equipment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Propst_(inventor)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Searshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_and_motion_studyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._W._Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Bunker_Gilbrethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lillian_Moller_Gilbrethhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equitable_Life_Insurance_Companyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Miller_(office_equipment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herman_Miller_(office_equipment)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Propst_(inventor)


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prolific industrial designer, who came up with the concept of the

Action Office which later evolved into the cubicle office furniture

system.

[1]

2.2 The Modern Office

When you say modern office many people will think of a sleek

white office with curved edges, nature inspired office furniture

and bright colours. A modern office certainly can look sleek, but

much of the technological setup of a truly modern office has far

more of an impact than the colour of the walls. This article

considers what a modern office really is and how the modern

technology plays behind the scenes.

2.2.1 Paperless Offices

Paperless offices are becoming more popular and they remain a

very modern occurrence. The paperless office is something that

has a large number of benefits for connectivity, productivity and

for the environment, of course. A paperless office will often
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Officehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubiclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://officedomain.com.au/http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_Officehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cubiclehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office#cite_note-Long-1http://officedomain.com.au/


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reduce the need for lengthy processes and administration

because of the ability to cut out the printing and filing processes.

Running a paperless office does, however, require a high level of

off site data storage to ensure that your company processes are

safe from any internal failures. Moving to a paperless system will

be a cost effective change with benefits for your carbon footprint

and environmental impact too.

2.2.2 An Office in the Clouds

Cloud computing is a good way to shift your business processes

into a more mobile system. Instead of relying on internal

company servers, it is now possible to locate your business

network on external servers. The benefits of this are

improvements in connectivity and mobility, as well as reductions

in cost. Cloud computing will enable your staff to access their

work documents from anywhere with an Internet connection, thus

reducing wasted time whilst away from the office. Cloud

computing also improves organisation because invoices and

documents can be easily shared directly from one folder to

another staff member without any change. Further benefits of
http://www.tape.com.au/http://www.tape.com.au/


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cloud computing include an ability to outsource work more easily,

another feature that is common in a modern office.

2.2.3 The Outsourced Office

It can be argued that truly modern offices do not even need to

have a physical location. Outsourcing has become rapidly more

popular over recent years and this has greatly improved the

ability to run a business without the need for rental costs or a

physical location. Outsourcing can be carried out for literally any

process or element within a business. In many cases all but the

core services provided by a company are being carried out

through outsourcing to freelance workers. The benefits of

outsourcingarehuge because it greatly decreases the costs

involved with employing staff. Traditionally, staff needs to be paid

and superannuation contributions need to be made on top of this.

Super contributions are just one of the expenses that can be

omitted when outsourcing your office and this alone can save you

a very significant amount of money.

CONCLUSION


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Office as indicate in the study has undergone series of historic

transformation such that the wide gap between the historic office

and that today cannot in any way be compared. The industrial

revolution brought about the revolution of every technology and

that has affected the office a lot. This is so because, every

industry operate through an office structure. This explains a lot

why the tremendous industrial revolution has continued to drag

the office along. To internet has made offices a fantasy.

RECOMMENDATION

In view of the role of information technology in the positioning of

office, I want to strongly suggest that every office go paperless

and imbibe the culture of internet and computer software for

most of the office routine tasks. There is this computer on line

office application known as e-office. This application can do

almost all the routine task of a normal office. It makes life easy

and ensures accuracy and consistency with proper information

distribution.


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References

1. Long, Kim (2004). User Effective Buildings. Denver:

Aardex Corporation. pp. 1416.

2. "Serviced Offices, Office Space for Rent". Search Office

Space.

3. "This Recovery Explained". The Steven L. Newman Real

Estate Institute.

4. Kennedy Smith (30 June 2006). "Categorization of office

space is flexible". St. Louis Daily Record & St. Louis

Countian.

5. "Building Class Definitions." Building Owners and

Managers Association International. Retrieved on April 23,

2010.

6. Adams, Scott. What do you call a sociopath in a

cubicle? (answer, a coworker) Kansas City, Missouri:

Andrews McMeel Pub., 2002.
http://www.searchofficespace.com/service/office-solutions/serviced-offices/http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/realestate/pdf/This-Recovery%20-Explained.pdfhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20060630/ai_n16516895/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20060630/ai_n16516895/http://www.boma.org/Resources/classifications/Pages/default.aspxhttp://www.searchofficespace.com/service/office-solutions/serviced-offices/http://www.baruch.cuny.edu/realestate/pdf/This-Recovery%20-Explained.pdfhttp://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20060630/ai_n16516895/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4185/is_20060630/ai_n16516895/http://www.boma.org/Resources/classifications/Pages/default.aspx


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7. Duffy, Francis. Colin Cave. John Worthington, editors.

Planning Office Space. London: The Architectural Press Ltd.,

1976.

Documents

New MOdern Office